Evolution of Life linked to changes in Earth

The Earth is a constantly moving stage
across which the pageant of life has slowly progressed. This website reveals
how the Solar System, the Earth, the moving continents, the evolving oceans and
changing climate have affected the evolution of life. The oceans and climate
have, to some extent, been affected in their turn by life. We summarize these
steps in the timeline of history.

James
Lovelock proposed the controversial “Gaia hypothesis” which claimed that
life has kept Earth in a state favorable to itself. However this idea was
opposed by many scientists who pointed out, for example, the periods of mass extinction when huge numbers of living creatures
died because of changes in the Earth.

Lovelock later modified his hypothesis into
the “Gaia theory” which sees the Earth as a system in
which the “evolution of organisms is tightly coupled to the evolution of their
environment”, in agreement with the findings in this website.

Climate Change has shaped Human History

We often think of climate change and global
warming is something new, but in fact the whole course of human history and
indeed the history of our planet has been profoundly shaped by climate change.
It is a prime example of the intimate link between life and the planet. The
main links with human history include: